Astrophysics Source Code Library

Making codes discoverable since 1999

ASCL Code Record

The Difference-smoothing MATLAB code measures the time delay from the light curves of images of a gravitationally lendsed quasar. It uses a smoothing timescale free parameter, generates more realistic synthetic light curves to estimate the time delay uncertainty, and uses X2 plot to assess the reliability of a time delay measurement as well as to identify instances of catastrophic failure of the time delay estimator. A systematic bias in the measurement of time delays for some light curves can be eliminated by applying a correction to each measured time delay.